Facing increasing resistance and concerns about privacy, the United States'
largest food companies and retailers will try to win consumer approval for radio
identification devices by portraying the technology as an essential tool for
keeping the nation's food supply safe from terrorists.

The companies are banding together and through an industry association are
lobbying to have the Department of Homeland Security designate radio frequency
identification, or RFID, as an antiterrorism technology.

In addition, they are asking members of Congress and other influential figures
to portray RFID in a favorable light.

Companies like Procter & Gamble, Wal-Mart and Johnson & Johnson see RFID
technology as a godsend. By implanting tiny radio transponders in their product
packaging, the companies can instantly track their goods from factory floors all
the way to retailers' warehouses. What's more, retailers can get a 100 percent
accurate inventory of products on their shelves instantly with RFID detectors.
Taking inventory now involves countless hours of overnight work with inaccurate
results.

Experts estimate industry could save billions of dollars each year in inventory
and logistical costs with RFID. Trouble is, privacy advocates see RFID as a
massive invasion of privacy. They say the technology would let retailers,
marketers, governments or criminals scan people -- or even their houses -- and
ascertain what they own. The technology hasn't been rolled out widely yet, but
already it's causing controversy. Earlier this summer, Wal-Mart caved to
protests and pulled radio-tagged items out of a store in Brockton,
Massachusetts.

To win the hearts and minds of consumers, retailers and food and drug companies
may portray the technology as an antiterrorist tool. They say the technology can
help them keep precise track of all goods and help in recall efforts should
their products be contaminated or laced with poison during a terrorist attack.

The Auto-ID Center, an RFID consortium, presented its technology to Homeland
Security Secretary Tom Ridge in Washington, D.C., last year. In fact, many
Auto-ID Center sponsors consider Ridge's blessing to be key to public
acceptance. An internal presentation by Fleishman-Hillard, the powerhouse PR
firm that advises the center, lists Ridge as a "top-tier opinion leader." And
the minutes (PDF) of another meeting, attended by a representative of the
Department of Defense, records a group statement that the technology will catch
on "when the government mandates it for homeland security reasons."

The center also has targeted Sens. John McCain and Patrick Leahy, and Reps.
Charles Dingell and Billy Tauzin, for recruitment to help Americans overcome
their suspicions about RFID tags on consumer goods.

Members of the privacy rights group Caspian uncovered the Auto-ID Center
documents, which are marked "confidential," in early July.

With Ridge's approval for RFID, the food and drug companies and retailers hope
to win over a wary public. They also may get legal protection under the Safety
Act of 2002 -- a tort-reform law that offers blanket lawsuit protections to
makers of antiterrorism devices, should those devices fail during a terrorist
attack.

"If we get a declaration from Homeland Security that this is the step we need to
take to protect the food supply, that's the step it will take to move this
technology forward," said Procter & Gamble supply-chain executive Larry Kellam
at an RFID industry conference in June.

Procter & Gamble and other Auto-ID Center sponsors -- including Sara Lee,
Kellogg, Nestle, Coca-Cola, Pepsico, Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer -- lobbied
lawmakers and officials last year for the lawsuit protections that they now hope
will apply to RFID technology.

"We have been working with legislators to make sure the right regulations are in
place to make RFID tags commercially feasible," said Stephanie Childs, a
spokeswoman for the Grocery Manufacturers of America, which lobbied on behalf of
the food and drug companies and retailers.

But not all legislators on Capitol Hill are buying into RFID tags, especially
when they see companies playing the terrorism card to gain acceptance for the
technology.

"We would never support legislation to prevent businesses from using RFID the
way they want to," said Jeff Deist, a spokesman for Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), who
is a staunch privacy rights advocate. "That's a question for the marketplace.
But once the Homeland Security Department gets involved, that's another story
entirely."
========================
RFID will stop terrorists! Experts estimate industry could save billions of
dollars each year in inventory and logistical costs with RFID. Trouble is,
privacy advocates see RFID as a massive invasion of privacy. They say the
technology would let retailers, marketers, governments or criminals scan people
-- or even their houses -- and ascertain what they own.

To win the hearts and minds of consumers, retailers and food and drug companies
may portray the technology as an antiterrorist tool. They say the technology can
help them keep precise track of all goods and help in recall efforts should
their products be contaminated or laced with poison during a terrorist attack.
[...]

They also may get legal protection under the Safety Act of 2002 -- a tort-reform
law that offers blanket lawsuit protections to makers of antiterrorism devices,
should those devices fail during a terrorist attack.

"If we get a declaration from Homeland Security that this is the step we need to
take to protect the food supply, that's the step it will take to move this
technology forward," said Procter & Gamble supply-chain executive Larry Kellam
at an RFID industry conference in June. [...] "We have been working with
legislators to make sure the right regulations are in place to make RFID tags
commercially feasible," said Stephanie Childs, a spokeswoman for the Grocery
Manufacturers of America, which lobbied on behalf of the food and drug companies
and retailers.
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